The 20 Highest Grossing Films Featuring Female Action Heroines In a Lead Role (Adjusted for Inflation)

By Dustin Rowles | Box Office Round-Ups | November 25, 2013 |

By Dustin Rowles | Box Office Round-Ups | November 25, 2013 |

Hunger Games: Catching Fire poured it on in its opening weekend, setting records for best November opening, best Holiday weekend opening, and the fourth best opening weekend of all time with $161 million, besting the opening weekend for its predecessor by nearly $10 million. The numbers are even more impressive internationally, where Catching Fire added another $146 million, which is half of what Hunger Games raked in during its entire international run.

It was also the highest grossing opening weekend ever for a film featuring an action heroine in a lead role, and is expected to eventually surpass Hunger Games for the highest grossing film of all time with a lead female action heroine. The top 20 in that category, adjusted for inflation, are as follows:

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($420 million estimated by the end of its run)

2. Hunger Games — $409 million

3. Terminator 2 — $390 million

4. Gravity — $270 million (estimated)

5. Alien — $255 million

6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith — $234 million

7. Charlie’s Angels — $186.9 million

8. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — $186.5 million

9. Aliens — $184 million

10. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — $182 million

11. Miss Congeniality — $153 million

12. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle — $134 million

13. Salt — $119 million

14. The Fifth Element — $111 million

15. Alien 3 — $107.6 million

16. Courage Under Fire — $107.5 million

17. Kill Bill Vol. 1 — $93 million

18. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life — $87 million

19. Thelma and Louise — $86 million

20. Kill Bill Vol. 2 — G.I. Jane — $84 million

If you’re curious, Angelina Jolie has four appearances in the top 20, along with Lucy Liu; Sigourney Weaver is represented three times; and Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Jennifer Lawrence appear twice (although, the latter will undoubtedly take up the top four spots by 2015, once all the Hunger Games’ sequels are accounted for).

Elsewhere, Thor: The Dark World took an expected 61 percent tumble in its third week, with competition from Catching Fire, landing in second place with $14 million. Best Man Holiday fell to number three with $12 million, and Vince Vaughn’s Delivery Man opened poorly, with only $8.2 million. Vaughn now hasn’t had a hit in four years (Four Christmases) and hasn’t had a good film in seven or eight (depending on what you think of The Break-Up). Is this the end of the era of lovable losers?